Dumgoyne - 427m
Wednesday 30th December 2009
 

Weather/Conditions: Like a winter Munro - lots of snow, crap weather and high winds at the summit. Needed crampons to stay on the summit of Dumgoyne (a rare occasion).
Distance/Ascent/Time: 8.1km / 370m / 2h 25m
Accompanying: Alone

This walk was done mainly to contribute towards my goal of 100 mountains in 2009. It was great to get out though as ever and I approached from the Strathblane memorial. What was fantastic about this walk was the wildness of the weather. A strong wind blew from the north and the snow lay deep. It was tough work climbing, and since the well-trodden summit was covered in iced up snow, I need crampons for the last several feet. To stand on the summit in 60-odd mph winds without crampons was to hold onto the summit stone and hope you didn't get blown off your feet. It was that strong. Most of the time you'd get laughed at for having crampons on Dumgoyne, but it was rough enough today.

I later compared this in my mind to being a winter Munro. It felt that harsh and was the most memorable part of the day. It also left me at 99 mountains in 2009 and I had one more day to climb the last. The following day I notched that number up to 100 on Auchineden Hill with dad.



A note on the images: I accidentally underexposed the lot, and bringing them back up to true brightness leaves them looking a bit odd.

Written: 2010-01-12

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